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Could gait unlock the keys to autism and Asperger's?

Could gait unlock the keys to autism and Asperger's?

Lawrence Money

Clinical psychologist Nicole Rinehart is studying the walking styles of people with autism and Asperger's. Photo: Angela Wylie

THERE is a footpath outside the window of Nicole
Rinehart's Monash University office at Notting Hill that provides a
full-length view of people walking by.

Dr Rinehart, a clinical psychologist, has more interest
in that process than most. For several years she has been studying the
distinctive way of walking apparent in children with autism and
Asperger's disorder. The research aims to help clinicians make earlier
diagnosis of these two afflictions.

How do they walk? With a click of the computer mouse Dr
Rinehart brings up an animated skeleton on screen, the digitally
duplicated movements of a real-life patient. ''This is a child with
autism,'' she says. ''They have a much more variable bouncy gait.'' The
skeletal figure moves awkwardly with the right arm swinging across the
body, rather than back and forward, and the pelvis shifting oddly from
side to side.

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There are other walking skeletons on her files. Here
comes a man of 60 with Parkinson's disease - and now a young sufferer of
Asperger's. Each shows the effect of the particular brain malfunction
on the body's motor movements.

''You can see the difference in the upper body posture,''
she says of the Asperger's boy. ''In some ways we feel we are looking
for a needle in a haystack because it is a very subtle disturbance in
gait. This is one kid out of a large sample. They don't necessarily all
look the same. What we are noticing is that children who have autism
plus ADHD (attention deficit) have more severe motor difficulties.
That's the focus of our current research.''

Dr Rinehart is an associate professor at the university's
School of Psychology and Psychiatry. All her computer skeletons are
male and that is another mystery that needs unravelling: the gender
bias.

The rate of autism and Asperger's in the Australian
community is one female to four males. And here's another surprising
stat: Dr Rinehart says that the occurrence of autism and Asperger's in
the community - from mild to severe - is one in 160.

There is a division of opinion between researchers in
this area: those who think that children with high-functioning autism
and children with Asperger's are the same and should be grouped under
''autism spectrum disorder'' - and a camp Dr Rinehart favours that says
the two afflictions are different.

''If you have a child with Asperger's who is speaking
precociously at two,'' she says, ''and a child with high-functioning
autism who is not speaking till four, their brains must be wired up
differently.''

There is no known cause of either autism or Asperger's but it is thought they are passed on genetically.

Earlier diagnosis would help reduce the social problems -
bullying, isolation etc - that are often suffered by such children
because of the symptoms that make them stand out as ''different''.
Autistic children can often be seen as slow and physically clumsy and,
despite the seemingly positive symptoms of Asperger's - precocious
lingual and cognitive development - there is also a downside.

''Recently at a social event,'' says Dr Rinehart, ''there
was a very bright seven-year-old boy who was happy to be there,
enjoying his time. When all the children went off to play he stayed with
the adults, telling them about his Lego collection, a beautiful
conversation but he was missing out on play and fun and social
development.

''He lacked those social skills and he will always
struggle with them. These children can't hit the mark with their peer
group. Often the child with Asperger's is talking before anyone else,
parents might think they are gifted. But if you listen to what they are
saying, they are talking at you, great language skills, but may not
always be interested in whether you are listening or not.''

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